Envelope hopper for mail treating machines



1512.111945.` 1 MDOHLETAL 2,390,513

ENVELOPE HOPPER FOR MAIL vTREATING MACHINES Filed April 22, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Dec. 11, 1945. R. A. Doll..` ET Al. 2,390,573

ENVELOP HOPPER FOR MAIL TREATING MACHINES 'Filed April 22,1943

2 sheets-sheet 2 A UNITED STATE Patented Dec. 11, 1945 er m ENVELOPE HOPPER FOR MAIL TREATING MACHINES I l Robert A. Dohl and Edward G. Ziegelhoefer,

Rochester, N. Y., assignors to CommercialControls Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application April 22, 1943, Serial No. 484,042

. 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a mail matter hopper fora mail treating machine, and more particularly to an envelope hopper from which nested envelopes may be fed for sealing or stamping thereof,` or both.

Modern `high capacity power operated mail treating machines usually have envelope hoppers or magazines in which a substantial number of sealed or unsealed envelopes, envelopes with their aps in extended nested relation, and cards or similar sheet material may be stacked, and from the bottom of which the envelopes or cards are automatically and successively withdrawn and fed into and through the machine for sealing or stamping'or both` In order that the potential high treating capacity of the machine be utilized, it is important that the envelopes or cards be steadily withdrawn from the hopper without interruption, regardless of the amount of envelopes or cards disposed inthe hopper up to its capacity. There is little diiiiculty in attaining this uninterruptedl successive feed Where the envelope aps areeither sealed to the body of the envelope, are tucked "Within the envelope, or merely lie Vloose against the back thereof, or where the sealed or `unsealed envelopes are stuffed to uniform thickness, or Where a series of flat cards or the like are run through the machine. The feeding problern "is more diicult, however, where a stack of unsealed envelopes with their apsin extended nested relation are piled in the hopper for the sealing operation, and where the stuffing of the envelopes issuch that they are not of uniform thickness. Under these conditions, the normal inclined attitude of a stack of uniformly thick envelopes with their flaps nested does not exist, but rather the stack of envelopes assumes various attitudes throughout its height, and the envelope flapsdo not lie in regular nested' relationship.`

In a number of instances, attempts have been made to devise an envelope hopper amenable to the peculiar conditions occurring Where a number of envelopes are stacked with their iiaps extended and nested. For example, Ogden et a1.-

1`,7`3'7,670 resorts to a rigid inclined plate against whichthe envelopeilaps rest, and along which they slide asthe stack is diminished. Northrup 1,624,899 and Eskholme 1,632,281 attain this plate inclination through a pivotal arrangement which` permits the flap-guiding plate to pivot to anlinclined position when the envelopes are stacked inthe hopper. While these and similar arrangements have attained a certain measure of success where the envelopes are of uniform thickness,`

they do not operate as successfully Where theien velopes vary substantially in thickness throughout thestack, as under these conditions the envelope fiaps project at varying angles from the envelope body in'such a manner that they interfere with one another as they progress down'- wardly through the hopper in such a manner that very often the feeding thereof is interrupted, necessitating a manual rearrangement or readjustment thereof in thel hopper. Y 1

I It is accordingly among the objects `of this in` Y vention to provide an enveloDBhopper for a mail treating machine which is simple, durable and inexpensive in construction, and capable of ob` viating the above dificulties in addition to others. I The invention accordingly consistspin the fea' tures of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as Will be exemplified in thelstructure to be hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will beV indicated in the following claims. f

In the drawings, wherein We have' shown one form of our invention, I p

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front view, partially in section, of our envelope hopper;

Figure V2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the envelope hopper looking in the direction of envelope travel through the mail treating machine; I

Figures 3-'7 are fragmentary perspective views of the rear of the hopper showing the different attitudes of the back or hap-engaging plate for different amounts of envelopes in the hopper.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the various views of the drawings.

v As shown in-Figure4 1, the left-hand end of the base of a mail treating machine is generally indicated at I0, and this base supports a table II which forms the bottom of our envelope hopper, which is generally indicated at I2. Hopper I2 also includes a flat rear plate I3, another rear or flap-engaging plate generally indicated ,at I4, a'side or elevating plate I5, a side plate I6, and an adjustable front plate II (Figure 2). Side plate I5 (Figure 1) is fastened to a carriage I8` which may be adjusted along table II andfastened in adjusted position in any suitable man-` ner. Thus by the adjusting of side plate I5 and front` plate II (Figure 2) the length and Width of hopper I2 may be varied in accordance with the length and Width of the envelopes to be stacked therein. In general, hopper I2,-with the exception of flap-#engaging plate I4, is similar to `that disclosed inthe copending applicationA of hopper I2, it will assume an inclination to the' leftas viewed in this figure, wlfiicl-rfacilitates;` the.

successive feeding of the bottornmost envelope'. Furthermore, the trailing ends of the envelopes :are supported on side plate I',5;,which inclines the bottommost envelope relative to; the` plane oftable II, thus to reduce the frictional engagement between the bottolmmost enVeIOpeandthetabIe toy expedite the feeding of the envelope.

The rear or hap-engaging plate I4 (Figure 2)` isrfnrmeoboff a finegauge'highlyexiblejmaterial; suchzasmhosphon bronze; itsf bottoml portion Ma isffastene'da in any; suitableJ mannen as bv Weldingzon lorazing,4` to, a plate 2li;` Thevtop: Mb (Figuren of' flexible-,plate I4=is provided with, a verticali slot: Mc (Figure L); through which a headedf'stud 2li' extends-,- the unheaded end: ofwhich-isthreadedand extends through the-'flange .22;,(riligurefZl` of: a; bracketf` screwed .to a plate 24 which forms a wall of;y the nail treating inachine; ThisLIV threaded end 24ar of study 2l is-securedf ini properlyv adiustedposition inV bracket iiangez4 by, a pai-r of: locknuts 25; and between the. bracket.l flange andtop- Idbof plate; I-41is! disposed a; coil. spring,y 2l`r, the: bias off which presses the top ofV platev |14*vv against. they headV of studv 2 I. Thus;I the iiap-engagingj plate I4 when hopper Il is-empty or: almost empty, liesin arvertical planeffromjwhich-itdeviates only when there are;

lmorev than aew, envelopes-withtheir 'flaps nested in the hopper. Accordingly it follows that when cards or, sealed envelopes; are stacked in hopper I2, there is no deviation of plate Iflkfromfthe vertical, andl accordinglyv anytendency of the pile of cards or sealed: invelopes to depart from the vertical, ire. .their bes-tfeeding position, lis resisted by plate I-.4;.thus reducing toaminimumfriction between; thef cards` or sealedy envelopes and plate III, which might tend to interfere with proper feeding.` Furthermore, becausevof the resiliency oflplateI/Landthe dis-placeability tothe left of-itsupper end Mhasviewed in Figure 2, such pile of cards or: sealed envelopes may readily be placed within hopper- I2. Also, front. plate' IIV maybe correctly'set, by holding?l anenvelopee against stud 2| and then moving plate II to a point adjacent on inV engagement with the envelopey edge,l as desi-red.

In the normal coursey of useof fafmailltreating machine ingarlarge,businessestablishment, a large percentage of. the mail matter to be. fedthrough thefniachine constitutes unsealed envelopes variously stulfed,.so.that theV thickness thereof is anythingqbut uniform; Whereanenvelope isstuffed, for, exam-ple, with a single sheet of pap-er, itsv unsealcdfflanafter thestuing operation', will normallv,4 extend from the body of the; envelope at right angles.l Where. however,v the envelopeY is heavily stuffed,.its sides attheopen edge of the envelope are spread apart, causing the ends at this'edge to. be drawn toward one another, this in'v turn, curling the ends of. theenvelopel flap,

causing.A theapto projectn from the address side ofthe envelope. insubstantially the same; planer. Accordingly, it will appear that ywhere such lightly and heavily stuffed envelopes are placed together on top of one another with their flaps nested, the successive aps will engage one another with varying degrees of pressure, resulting in a frictional relationship between adjacent flaps that is not only not uniform, but which also varies the natural inclination which a stack 0f uniformly stuffed envelopes would normally assume. As noted hereinabove, this creates a condition in the envelope hopper which complicates the feeding problem.

' InA Figures 3"-7, we have illustrated this condition of a stack of differently stuffed envelopes and accordingly of non-uniform thickness. Thus in Figure 3, hopper- I2 is shown loaded almost to capacity` with avstack of envelopes 21. It will be noted that some of the envelope flaps are regul-arlyl spaced from` one another, indicating envelopes of uniform thickness, whereas other aps as', for" example, at points A and B, are farther aparh indicating that in the.` stackthere; aree! one or more envelopes ofjgreater; thickness? than those,- above and` below. Where; there f ara one.: or. more heavier or thicker` envelopes injtheestazclnas at point A, the stack of envelopes above'thisgpoint variesfromits normal inclination because ofthe facttthat the flaps ofv the heavieren-velopes; tend to liei-n, onmorenearly inthe general: plane of the-envelope, thus-causingtheapsfoftheiflig-htex: stuffed-,envelopes above toward asimilar disposi; tion.- If, accordingly, ,there were several heavily stuffed' envelopes in the stack and but ai few lighter stuffed envelopes above, thela1ps-of1:the lighter stuffed envelopes would tend to'approa'ch the horizontal were there no restraining; factor.` Ourexibleplate I4 eifectivelyfpreventsfthis conditionand holds-the flaps not.v only of' the heavily stulfed, but` also of, thef lightly smfedfenvelopesiin adepending position (asr shown in Figure 3a; which` is necessary forv the .proper feed of.: the envelopes downth-rough thehopper. Thusas-is shown inFigurethe center portion Md of plate I4 isbowed to'therleft, andits contouris generallythat ofthe contour. of the arps against-,which itis pressing. It willalso be notedthat'falthough theupper-end; Ili'b: of the plate has been"v some- What displaced to the left, itrneverthelessf curves reentrantly. ofL the hopperk andi accordingly enf gages over the flaps of the uppermost envelopes' holding` these flapsfin.v proper Afeeding position withinithe hopper; f

In- Figure l this condition still pertain-s-,-all thoughthe stack of envelopes2 infthe'hopperhas somewhat decreased. Here again' the center por:- tion` ofr plate-I4, is also contoured-y in accordance with the. contour of. the envelopelaps; while-the upper endof.. theplate is still 'more reentran-t inv character than in` the- Figure 3,v position. It shouldlbe noted that without thislreentrant eurv atu're of the upper end I-blofplate I, the tendency, of the uppermost envelope flapswould be. to open out, particularly where there isi-ying un der them one or more heavily stuffed envelopes, with the result that the sharp, edge oftheenvej-y lope aps would scratch along the plate werethe. rigid end not inclined, resulting in a tendency for these top envelopes to become displaced` from their proper feeding position within the hopper.

In Figure 5 we have shown the envelopefstack substantially depleted', but eveninfthisf-condition flexible plate I4 is still 'slightly bowed sol-as teef# fect` the proper'neste'd relationshipof the enve-r lope naps without undue bindingor fricticnalemgagement, therebetween as Wouldpreclude uninfl terruptedfeeding.` InFigureG,,thefstacknof env-,ee

lopes is shown almost completely depleted so that plate I4 has almost assumed its normal vertical plane position, and in Figure 7 the hopper is shown empty but for one envelope, and plate I4 is back to vertical. Thus it will appear that as the stack of enevelopes in the` hopper lessens in height, from the Figure 3 condition to that shown in Figure 7, the upper end I4b of plate I4 gradually moves from bracket flange 22 to the head of stud 2| under the bias of spring 26, and the curvature of the center portion I4d of plate I4 is maintained in a lessening degree, with the result that the plate I4 always properly engages the envelope aps regardless of the number of envelopes "in the hopper in proper fashion to-maintain the envelopes in their most advantageous position for uninterrupted feeding. It will further appear that by reason of the flexibility of plate I4, the envelope flaps are not pressed against one another into such tight frictional engagement as to cause any interruption in the downward progress of the envelopes through the hopper or the successive feeding thereof from the bottom of the hopper.

, As noted hereinabove, the natural tendency of a stack of envelopes with their flaps shingled is to incline in the direction of their ap edges. In our hopper, however, the resilient plate I4 counteracts this tendency to a certain degree so that the stack of envelopes maintains a more or less vertical attitude in the hopper. This is advantageous in that it is not necessary for the contacting faces of adjacent envelopes to slide relatively as the stack diminishes, and accordingly' substantially precludes the possibility of adjacent envelopes snagging for one reason or another. Also, by reason of the flexibility of plate I4, the envelope naps are allowed to assume a natural position without undue frictional engagement between adjacent flaps.

Thus we have provided an envelope hopper for a mail treating machine which attains the several objects set forth hereinabove in a thoroughly practical and eflicient manner.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention, Vand as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that al1 matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

1. An envelope hopper for a mail treating machine or the like, in combination, front and side plates forming three sides of the hopper, means forming a bottom for the hopper, and a resilient member forming the fourth side of said hopper and against which the flap edges of the envelopes rest and adapted to bow between its ends to accommodate the nested aps of a stack of envelopes in said hopper.

2. An envelope hopper for a mail treating machine or the like, in combination, means forming opposed side plates and a bottom for said hopper, a back plate for said hopper, said back plate being resilientiy pliable and having its lower end `anchored and its upper end capable of limited movement toward and away from a stack of envelopes in the hopper, and means biasing the upper end of said back plate toward the hopper.

3. An envelope hopper for a mail treating machine or the like, in combination, means forming opposed side plates and a bottom for said hopper, a rear plate for said hopper, means anchoring the lower end of said rear plate, and means movably supporting the upper end of said rear plate for limited movement toward and away from said hopper and up and down relative thereto.

4. An envelope hopper for a mail treating machine or the like, in combination, means forming opposed side plates and a bottom for said hopper, a rear plate for said hopper, means anchoring the lower end of said rear plate, means movably supporting the upper end offsaid rear plate for limited movement toward and away from said hopper and up and down relative thereto, and spring means biasing the upper end of said rear plate toward said hopper.

5. An envelope hopper for a mail treating machine comprising, in combination, means forming opposed side plates and a bottom for the hopper, a flexible member forming the back of said hopper, means anchoring the bottom of said exible member against movement, means extending through the upper end of said flexible member to support said upper end for limited movement toward and away from said hopper, and means for biasing the upper end of said nexible member toward said hopper.

6. An envelope hopper for a mail treating machine or the like, in combination, front and side plates forming three sides of the hopper, means forming a bottom for the hopper, and exible means secured at the top and bottom and forming the fourth side of said hopper and lying in a substantially vertical plane when the hopper is empty and adapted to bow outwardly of the hopper when the hopper is full so as to conform with the contents of the hopper.

7. An envelope hopper for a mail treating machine or the like, in combination, front and side plates forming three sides of the hopper, means mounting said front plate for adjustable movement, adjustable means forming the fourth side of said hopper opposite said front side, and a stud extending through the top of said 'adjustable means to provide an upper support therefor, said stud also constituting a locating means relative to which the front side of said hopper may be adjusted.

ROBERT A. DOI-1L. EDWARD G. ZIEGELHOEFER. 

